Around Maryland

Christina Gordon’s 9-year-old had been making progress with his mental health since he started his therapy sessions at Potomac Behavioral and Occupational Therapy nearly a year ago. Gordon went from having to call the police and paramedics once a week for her son to not calling at all. But last month, Gordon got a letter from Allegany County Public Schools stating that her son’s weekly therapy appointments would no longer count as excused absences.

Teenagers under 18 soon will need adult supervision to enter and shop at The Mall in Columbia on weekend nights, which the center hopes will discourage large gatherings of young teens and fighting that has escalated in recent months. The Howard County mall’s “Parental Guidance Required” policy, similar to one adopted several years ago at Towson Town Center, will be in effect Fridays and Saturdays after 4 p.m. starting March 31. Anyone under 18 will need a parent or 21-year-old or older adult accompanying them.

Students at Arundel High School held a “mental wellness fair” on Wednesday. The circumstances around the fair are a stark contrast to the first, held one month prior to the pandemic. Students today are still coping with pandemic losses. Students like Mozzy Walubita used the better part of their day reconnecting with classmates and staff members. “Coming off of COVID, it’s been really hard trying to re-adjust to school, re-adjust to interacting with people and everything,” Walubita said.

Regular flooding that puts large swaths of Fells Point and the Inner Harbor underwater. Blistering heatwaves that target some of the city’s most vulnerable people. Stronger summer storms and winters without snowfall. This is Baltimore’s future unless the world takes drastic steps to mitigate some of the extremes of climate change, experts say. Even with immediate action, some change is baked in. We’re already living with climate change.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that a Southwest Airlines plane and an ambulance came within 200 feet of a collision at the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in January. In a statement released to WBAL NewsRadio, a spokesperson of the FAA said the driver of the ambulance crossed the runway without authorization.

The “working theory” on the explosion last week at a building on the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant campus is that it might have been ignited after hot oil escaped from a leaking pipe, according to an inspection report from the Maryland Department of the Environment. The explosion blew holes in three walls of the building, which is operated by a private contractor called Synagro, and the firefighting efforts covered the first floor in 6 to 8 inches of water, according to the state’s report. No one was injured, but the building remains closed.

There have been several instances of violent crime between Baltimore City Public School students in 2023, and there’s also been an uptick of guns being recovered at schools. Baltimore City Schools Police Sgt. Clyde Boatwright spoke with C4 and Bryan Nehman on Wednesday. He said officials recovered 13 guns so far this school year and on pace to surpass the 15 recovered last school year.